Black Eyed Peas Album A Flop At No. 6 on Chart

Weeks ago -- on paper, at least -- the new Black Eyed Peas album seemed a safe bet for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

But no, the funk group could manage only a No. 6 start for "The Beginning," which sold just 119,000 copies during the week ended December 5, according to Nielsen SoundScan data issued Wednesday. That's a sharp drop from the launch of its previous album, "The E.N.D.," which debuted at No. 1 in June 2009 after selling 304,000 copies in its first week.

Chalk up some of "The Beginning's" soft start to the good-but-not-great response to its lead single "The Time (Dirty Bit)," which jumped five places to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Last year when "The E.N.D." came out, the Peas were basking in the glow of "Boom Boom Pow," which was spending its 11th week at No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Meanwhile Susan Boyle returned to No. 1 with "The Gift," which sold 272,000 copies. Last week's champ, Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," slid to No. 7 with 108,000 copies, a hefty drop of 78%.

The other newcomer in the top 10 was the "Glee, the Music Volume 4" soundtrack at No. 5 with 128,000 copies. Further down, Jazmine Sullivan's second album "Love Me Back" came in at No. 17 and Chrisette Michele's third effort "Let Freedom Reign" launched at No. 25.

Taylor Swift's former chart-topper "Speak Now" rose two to No. 2 with 182,000, Jackie Evancho's "O Holy Night" was also up two, to No. 3, with 145,000, and the "Glee" Christmas album soared six to No. 4 with 129,000.

Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" dropped six to No. 8 with 103,000 in its second week. Josh Groban's "Illuminations" jumped three to No. 9 with 78,000 and Rihanna's "Loud" rose four to No. 10 with 77,000.

Overall album sales totaled 9.22 million units, off 10% from the previous week and down 9% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009. Year to date album sales stand at 281.24 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year.

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Kanye West Previews Monster Video Featuring Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z

Yes, 'Monster': the wildest and most action packed song on Kanye's masterpiece is set for release and the trio of Kanye. Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj have been hard at work creating a video for the track.

We'll have to wait a little while to see the full thing but a preview of the video, which sees Kanye getting up close and personal with waif-like models and Nicki Minaj crawling around on all-fours looks set to maintain Yeezy's current run of arthouse insanity.

Watch the 'Monster' promo preview below:



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Katy Perry's 'Firework' Shines Over Hot 100

Katy Perry becomes the first female artist in 11 years to take three straight radio singles from an album to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, as "Firework" lifts 2-1. She first topped the chart in June for six weeks with "California Gurls," featuring Snoop Dogg. That was followed by a two-week stay at the top in September with "Teenage Dream," the title track from her former No. 1 Billboard 200 set, which was recently bestowed a Grammy nomination for album of the year.

Monica was the last female to scale the Hot 100 with three consecutive radio cuts from one album, when title cut "The Boy Is Mine," featuring Brandy, "The First Night" and "Angel of Mine" all hit No. 1 between June 1998 and February 1999.

"Firework" is Perry's fourth overall Hot 100 No. 1, as she also led the list for seven weeks in the summer of 2008 with "I Kissed a Girl," her first chart entry.

"Firework's" ascension to No. 1 means that six different songs in the past six weeks have claimed the top Hot 100 ranking, extending a turnover ratio not seen in more than 20 years.

"Firework" sizzles at the top of Digital Songs for a second week with 212,000 downloads (down 9%), according to Nielsen SoundScan, while ranking as the week's top Airplay Gainer with a 12-8 lift on Radio Songs, up 25% to 83.3 million listener impressions, according to Nielsen BDS.

Last week's No. 1, P!nk's "Raise Your Glass," drops to No. 2, while Rihanna continues to climb back up the list (5-3) with her former chart-topper "What's My Name?," featuring Drake.

The Black Eyed Peas improve 9-4 with "The Time (Dirty Bit)" as the title moves into the runner-up slot on Digital Songs with 198,000 (up 10%). Their new album "The Beginning" starts at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, with 119,000.

Bruno Mars continues his upward trajectory with "Grenade" (10-5), while his "Just the Way You Are" slips 4-7. In between Mars's two tracks is Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)" (3-6).

Ke$ha stumbles 6-8 with "We R Who We R", Nelly falls 8-9 with "Just a Dream" and Trey Songz comes back into the top 10 with "Bottoms Up," featuring Nicki Minaj (11-10). The title has now spent seven weeks in the top 10.

"Glee" contributes to the Hot 100's Digital Gainer and Hot Shot Debut awards, as the cast's cover of Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over" is the top new entry at No. 22, selling 98,000 (No. 8 on Digital Songs). The song is one of five new entries by the "Glee" Cast this week.

Meanwhile, Florence and the Machine's original recording jumps 58-21 on the Hot 100 and 40-11 on Digital Songs, matching its previous best peak on the former list and achieving a new peak rank on the latter, moving 90,000 downloads (up 121%). The song reached its previous best rank following the band's head-turning performance on the MTV Music Video Awards in September.

The holiday season is in full swing, as the chart hosts its first two seasonal entries, both by top-selling alternative bands. Coldplay opens at No. 25 on the Hot 100 and No. 12 on Digital Songs (90,000) with "Christmas Lights," while topping the Holiday Digital Songs chart with the track.

The Killers enter at No. 79 on the big chart and No. 43 on the sales list (34,000) with "Boots." The band has released a holiday single each year since 2006, with its first offering, "A Great Big Sled," having been the only one to have previously charted on the Hot 100 (No. 54 peak).

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Willow Smith to Tour with Justin Bieber in Europe

Jessica Simpson’s Xmas album tanks as her clothing line nears $1 billion in annual sales

Jessica Simpson’s pop career continues to slide further into oblivion as her holiday LP Happy Christmas tanks in the charts. Despite a heavy promotional schedule, which included a PBS TV special, the disc debuted at #123 with sales of just 10,000 on last week’s Billboard chart. Compare that to Susan Boyle’s reign at the top with The Gift and Mariah Carey’s top five debut for Merry Christmas II You, and you get the picture.

Jessica’s recording career may be in the dumps and her last reality show The Price of Beauty may have bombed in the ratings, but that’s OK because the Simpson sister is about to become a billion dollar baby when her clothing line makes history by becoming the first ever celebrity fashion line to reach annual sales of $US1 billion. Yup, you read that right — ONE BILLION DOLLARS. That’s what fashion industry bible Women’s Wear Daily are predicting that The Jessica Simpson Collection will make in annual sales within the next two years after netting an astonishing $750 million this year alone, driving Simpson’s net worth up to $100 million. The line, which produces everything from clothing, jeans, perfume, cosmetics, luggage, handbags and shoes, will be expanding next year by launching a sportswear line, which WWD estimate will rake in between $150-200 million over the next two years.

So as you can see, Jessica Simpson can have all the flops she wants because with a billion dollar business behind her she can afford to make mistakes. That next mistake will most likely be her next “pop album”, which she’s hoping to have produced by The-Dream & Tricky after being impressed by their work on her Happy Christmas LP.

Who would’ve ever thought that Jessica Simpson’s little clothing empire would be making more than celebrity lines from the likes of Britney Spears, Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez?

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